Exxon Valdez oil spill numbers

Exxon Valdez oil spill numbers

by Channel 2 News staff
Thursday, June 19, 2008

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- In anticipation of a ruling by the Supreme Court on the punitive damages settlement following the Exxon-Valdez oil spill, Channel 2 News has compiled a breakdown of some interesting numbers related to the case:

The amount of the Alaska coastline covered in oil from the Exxon Valdez spill equals California's entire coastline.

If the amount of oil spilled were placed in gallon-sized milk jugs, and they were placed side-by-side, they would stretch the entire length of the pipeline, with more than 100 miles left over. The jugs would also stretch from Anchorage to Homer and back -- twice.

Two -- the number of Egan Center main ballrooms the oil would fill, floor to ceiling.

Four -- number of hours it would take the Trans-Alaska Pipeline to pump the same number of barrels of oil that were spilled (at today's flow rate).

11,000 -- number of square miles that the oil spill covered

5,014,286 -- number of gallons of gasoline that could have been made from the spilled oil

$21,009,857 ($21 million) -- amount of money it would cost you at the pump (at today's prices) for that amount of gasoline

2,365,714 (2.4 million) -- number of gallons of heating fuel that could have been made from the spilled oil

1,027 -- number of years a typical Fairbanks home could be heated with that amount of heating fuel, or the number of Fairbanks homes that could be heated for one year

$9,899,657,997.20 ($10 billion) -- amount of interest the original $5 billion punitive damages awarded in 1994 would have earned at 5 percent, compounded annually

$2,756,250,000 ($2.8 billion) -- amount of interest the $2.5 billion punitive damages awarded in 2006 would have earned at 5 percent, compounded annually

$5.3 billion -- approximate amount Exxon would have to pay out if the Supreme Court awards full punitive damages

$1.06 billion -- approximate amount lawyers stand to make if the Supreme Court awards full punitive damages (20 percent)

22.5 -- number of days it takes Exxon to earn $2.5 billion in profit (based on first quarter 2008 earnings numbers)

26,000 -- number of gallons of oil estimated to still be on Alaska beaches

Animals killed by oil spilled:

250,000 to 500,000 seabirds
1,000 otters
300 harbor seals
250 bald eagles
22 orcas
billions of salmon and herring eggs

8,000 -- estimated number of original plaintiffs that have died since 1994

1,600 -- number of tons of steel removed and replaced during the repair of the Exxon Valdez tanker

$30 million -- amount spent to repair the Exxon Valdez

$3.15 billion -- approximate amount Exxon has spent thus far on cleanup and fines after the spill
$80,000 -- approximate amount Exxon paid for every dea otter captured, scrubbed and released

5 -- number of animal species known not to have recovered from the spill

6 -- number of animal species known to have fully recovered from the spill

8 -- number of animal species still recovering or "recovery unknown"